The theme of West Division teams travelling east continues in the Week 4 finale as the BC Lions visit the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on Monday night.
The Lions and their top-ranked defence are rolling as they come into Toronto after holding Winnipeg to six points in their Week 3 win, a week after they blanked the Edmonton Elks 22-0.
The Argos return from a visit out west where they defeated the Elks 43-31 on Sunday night.
There doesn’t seem to be a way to easily attack or defend the Lions so far this season.
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Defensive lineman Mathieu Betts has been arguably the best in the league at his position and enters Monday’s contest off a three-sack game.
Argos’ quarterback Chad Kelly will also need to know the whereabouts of fellow linemen David Menard, Sione Teuhema and Nathan Cherry, given his affinity for using his legs.
The Argos have allowed just one sack this season but have yet to face a defensive front as talented as the Lions.
Defensive coordinator Ryan Phillips has been pleased with his defence’s play thus far and expects a high level of compete in all aspects of the game.
Watch live. BC Lions @ Toronto Argonauts, July 4, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm EDT)
“The way that we’re playing right now lights-out-wise, the way that these guys are flying around and buying into what we’re trying to do, I think that’s what speaks volumes about our defence,” Phillips told BCLions.com. “You want every facet of your defence to be hitting on all cylinders. These guys feel like this defence is theirs, which is what we wanted as a staff and they’re taking ownership of it.”
The pressure doesn’t stop when the ball goes in the air as Kelly will need to make quick decisions with defensive backs T.J. Lee, Marcus Sayles, Garry Peters and linebacker Emmanuel Rugamba all able to turn a defensive play into an offensive opportunity.
And limiting that Lions’ offence won’t be easy.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 237 yards and two more touchdowns against the Bombers, proving his ability to excel against the league’s top defences.
He’ll have to do it again this week as the Argos also possess playmakers from the line on out.
Luckily for the Leos, they’ll match it with plenty of star power in the receiving game.
Dominique Rhymes and Keon Hatcher are both set to return to join Alexander Hollins, Justin McInnis and Jevon Cottoy as one of the most lethal corps in the league.
They’ll be without Lucky Whitehead, however, as he deals with a hamstring injury.
The Double Blue have been especially tough on the run, making the play of Taquan Mizzell something to watch. Mizzell rushed for 50 yards a week ago and the Argos held opposing rushers to 51 yards in Edmonton.
The goal of the Lions will be keeping Kelly in the pocket, as he threw a pair of interceptions last week.
However, options continue to emerge at receiver for Ryan Dinwiddie’s team.
Dejon Brissett and David Ungerer III totalled 63 and 75 yards against the Elks, respectively. They’ll need to step up again to support top targets Damonte Coxie, DaVaris Daniels and Cam Phillips.
Kelly will once again have the services of Kurleigh Gittens Jr., who returns from a hamstring injury. The more options Kelly has the better against the aggressive Lions’ secondary.
The Lions are no stranger to shutting down the run game having already held top rusher Brady Oliveira in check this season. But they’ll see looks from multiple angles on Monday.
A.J. Ouellette and Andrew Harris form a dynamic duo that can’t be forgotten about. The pair torched the Elks for 116 yards and Ouellette rushed for three touchdowns.
The Argos’ ground attack has only continued to expand with Daniel Adeboboye stepping up when called upon, including for 48 yards on seven carries last week against Edmonton.
Knowing the run game can produce at a high level takes pressure off the rest of the offence, Ouellette says.
“It makes us a well-rounded offence,” he told Argonauts.ca. “We can’t just lean on the pass game, we can’t just lean on the rush game. Any time you can make a quarterback feel comfortable in the pocket and throughout the game with the run game, it’s just going to improve the offence as a whole.”
Not to be outdone by their opposition, the Argos’ defence will look to make a statement as the team tries to improve to 3-0.
Adarius Pickett leads a linebacker corps that’s ready to put the Lions line to the test.
The biggest news for the Argos comes on the defensive line as Shawn Oakman is back to cause havoc for the Lions and Adams Jr. Add in fellow lineman Thomas Costigan, Dewayne Hendrix and Folarin Orimolade, who all had sacks against the Elks and the game could be won or lost on the line of scrimmage.
Missing two weeks hasn’t hurt the play of defensive back Jamal Peters. He’ll lead a secondary eager to shut down the Lions’ opportunistic offence and prove they have what it takes to hang with anyone.
It’s a battle of the best in the West versus the best in the East on Monday to close out Week 4.